


No Matter How You Spin It

by SamanthaGirlScout



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Gen, Identity Reveal, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 02:03:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10526577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamanthaGirlScout/pseuds/SamanthaGirlScout
Summary: They were bound to find out about each other eventually. It just figured that it would happen at a time where privacy came at a personal cost to both of them.Or that time that Adrien nearly died twice on his 18th birthday.





	

Adrien nearly died of a heart attack when Chloe burst into his room.

The sound of his door hitting the wall caused him to tumble to the ground. Nearly taking out one of his monitors in the process, he tried to jump up to face the intruder, but something solid hit his chest and pushed him back down.

“Put that on, Adrikins. I’m not spending one more minute looking this ridiculous by myself,” Chloe said as she stood over him.

“What the hell, Chloe?” He stared for a moment until her outfit registered in his mind. It was a pink onesie that looked absolutely ridiculous on her. “What are you—“

“Not a word,” she shot him a glare, “now open that gift and get changed. We’re already late.”

“Late? For what, it’s eight at night!”

“You’ll see. Now: open. Your. Gift.” Adrien looked down at the package on his chest and considered kicking her out in order to return to his yearly birthday sulk, but it would probably be a losing battle.

“Fine,” he muttered as he sat up and tore into the paper. His eyes lit up as the face of Litten was revealed. Upon closer inspection he found that the face was actually a hood attached to his own onesie.

As his hands came across a stuffed tail attached to the black body of the suit he turned to Chloe and looked closer at what she was wearing.He could see now how hers had a hood with Jigglypuff’s signature blue eyes. 

“Is this a kigurumi?”

“Maybe? I don’t know. Just get changed.”

“Okay, okay.” He was about to set the package aside when he noticed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with big Rs on them inside the package as well. “Am I supposed to put on the these, too?”

“Just bring them along. You can change into them later. Now for the love of god change before I put it on for you!”

Adrien laughed. Chloe turned away as he began changing, not that he cared. After years of modeling, he’d given up on propriety and changed almost anywhere. And, considering that Chloe was like a sister to him, he was even more comfortable doing so. Finished he tried to thank Chloe, but she grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the door instead.

“Save the sappiness for later. Let’s go.”

“W-wait! I have to tell—“

“I already told Nathalie. She said to just come back before your father does on Monday.” She said, pushing  him into the back of her limo. The door was barely shut behind them when the limo sped away. He tried to get an answer as to what exactly was going on, but she  refused to say a word until they were standing outside of her room and she paused to glare at him.

“Close your eyes.”

“Chlo—“

“Now!” Adrien hesitated for a moment before finally closing his eyes. Two small hands guided him forward. He stumbled a bit in the cumbersome outfit, but miraculously did not fall on his face. He heard the click of the door behind him and she moved to take one of his hands, leading  him a bit further before she stopped suddenly.

“You can open your eyes now.” 

Darkness gave way to her cinema room lit with soft lights illuminating three people dressed similarly to them.

“Surprise!” Nino, Marinette, and Alya all cried out at once. They looked quite comical in their own Tyranitar, Flaffy, and Raichu kigurumi, but the sight flooded Adrien's chest with warmth.

"Guys," he murmured as he tried to take in the sight of their smiling faces. While it was becoming more commonplace that the five of them spend time together, it was completely overwhelming to think that they were gathering together like this.

Especially when he knew it was just for him.

Adrien's vision blurred and a moment later he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Happy birthday, Adrien," Chloe squeezed his shoulder once and then stepped back as Nino rushed forward to hug him. As arms encircled him, Adrien felt his resolve crumble.

"Sorry," Adrien said as he clutched onto Nino. "I— I thought e-everyone forgot."

"It’s your birthday, dude. We could never forget that." Nino stepped back and ruffled Adrien's hair affectionately. "Now, while this is your party and you are  _ technically _ allowed to cry if you want to, why don't we get you set up with a few tissues and—"

Nino was cut off by a small object hitting his face. He barely caught it and looked to where it had originated from, Chloe, and glared. "What the hell! You know you could just hand them over like a civilized person."

"Well maybe you should pay more attention."

"Ugh, whatever." Nino rolled his eyes as Adrien took a tissue and made quick work of clearing his face up. " _ Anyways _ , sorry for leading you on, man."

"It's fine, really. I’m just…"

"Overwhelmed?" Alya asked as she approached. "Don't worry about it. Do you want something to drink? I think Chloe's ordered a bit of everything."

"Water would be nice." 

Nino threw an arm around Adrien and, as they turned, Marinette intercepted them. She stood there holding a bottle out to him. 

"Thanks, Marinette," Adrien said as he took the bottle from her.

"Not a problem. Do you need anything else?"

"Naw, this should be good for now."

“Oh, by the way,” Nino said as he turned to Chloe, “Butler dude dropped off the pizzas while you were getting Adrien.”

“Oh thank god. I’m absolutely  _ starving!” _ Chloe ran to the snack table and opened one of the many pizza boxes that were sitting there. She didn’t stop filling her plate until she felt everyone staring at her. “I’m pretty sure that the three of you ate earlier when you went to go ‘get your gifts’ so don’t judge me.” She rolled her eyes, placed one final item on her plate, and made her way over to a couch on the opposite wall.

“You know you could have found some food, too.” Marinette pointed out. “Besides shouldn’t Adrien have gone first?”

“There is enough food for everyone to eat all night. Besides, I couldn’t risk poisoning Adrien.” As if to prove her point, she took a bite of pizza and waved it in the air. “It’s all good, Adrikins! Go ahead and dig in!”

Adrien laughed as the others groaned. "Thanks, Chlo."

Adrien proceeded to hesitantly take a few slices of pizza before sitting in a chair that formed a semi-circle between the two couches. There was strained silence as Alya and Marinette sat across from Chloe with their own food. No girl looked at the other for almost a full minute until Nino approached the group.

Everyone watched as he didn’t hesitate to take the empty seat between Adrien and Chloe. Alya pouted at him, but he merely shrugged and started eating instead. Adrien didn’t know what kind of a pact the four of them had formed, but watching Nino attempt to play peace maker made him smile.  

"Alright, here's what we've got going on tonight," Chloe began. "We have cake to eat, gifts for you to open, I've got a few games for us to play, and finally a slew of your favorite anime and movies for us to watch until we all pass out. Sound like a plan?"

Marinette's eyes narrowed. "What kind of games? You never mentioned anything about that when we were planning."

"Well, now that Adrien's of age I thought we could play a modified game of spin the bottle." Marinette nearly choked on her drink. "And my butler was around at the time. I couldn’t very well admit that two minors might be exposed to alcohol." 

"Wait, what?"

Chloe gave her a dubious look. "I might not be close to you guys, but I at least know how old each of you are. So, since you and DJ over here are the babies of this weird-ass group, you get to decide if you want to drink with the adults or have a kid-approved drink instead. Every one of-age is stuck with alcohol. "

"I think I missed the part where you told us what game we're supposedly playing," Alya deadpanned as she crossed her arms.

"It's simple: spin the bottle. We go around the circle taking turns spinning an empty bottle. Whoever it lands on has to choose truth or dare. The person who spins gets to decide what the other person has to do. You always have the choice to pass. But there's a price: taking a shot."

"That's just a bad mix of two different games." Nino said, earning a glare from Chloe.

"I'd like to see you come up with something better." Chloe snapped. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off as she stood. "Marinette. Alya. Help me with the gifts and cake."

Adrien swore he could hear Marinette grinding her teeth from across the room, but to his surprise she didn’t snipe back. He watched as the trio of girls walked to another table and picked up a few packages and a carrying case. There was a bit of hushed bickering, but before he could dwell on it too much he had three gifts in his lap and a cake carrying case in front of him. Marinette pulled back the lid and revealed a simple cake with 'Happy Birthday Adrien!" written in neat cursive and a blue frosting boarder on the top and around the bottom.

"It's chocolate with buttercream frosting," she said as she began placing candles around the top. "Sorry it's so simple, but I don't have as much practice with cakes as maman and papa do."

"It's fine, Marinette." Adrien said with a bright smile. "I'm just grateful that you went through the trouble of making it."

She blushed and nearly dropped the lighter. "W-well of course! Nothing but the best for a friend!" When the final candle was lit the whole group joined together and sang to him. Once they were finished they goaded him to make a wish and blow out the candles.

He wasn’t sure what to wish for. He already had so much already. What could he wish for that he wasn’t blessed with already?

An image of Ladybug flittered through his mind.

Perhaps there was still one thing he could wish for…

"What did you wish for?" Chloe asked.

"Dude, don't ask him that. He can't talk about it, otherwise it won't come true."

"If he doesn't say, then no one can help  _ make _ it come true."

Adrien laughed and shook his head. He couldn’t admit his wish to anyone even if he wanted to. It was both embarrassing and far too incriminating. 

"Thanks for the thought, Chlo, but it’s something that’ll happen if it’s meant to happen. No meddling necessary."

"Here, open this while Marinette cuts the cake," Alya said as she pushed a neatly wrapped box into his hands. He paused to thank her before lifting the lid and finding a leather-bound journal with a ladybug and paw print imprinted into the leather cover. He opened it and found a message scrawled inside:

_ 'Dear Adrien, _

_ Alya tells me you're a big fan! Hope you get to fill this journal with all sorts of cool things. _

_ Stay Miraculous! _

_ Ladybug’ _

"You didn't," his heart pounded as he traced his partner's familiar signature.

"I did. I just happened to be carrying your gift home when she was out on patrol two weeks ago and she was totally down for it. I know how much of a fan you are of her so I thought it wouldn’t be too presumptuous of me to have her sign it."

He hugged the journal to his chest. "Thank you so much! I-I don't know how I'll ever thank you enough for this!"  

"Don't mention it. I thought about trying to track down Chat Noir, but I haven't had much luck with finding him.

"That's fine!" He said in a rush. It would be just his luck that someone would find the journal and figure out his identity from his handwriting. “Thanks for the thought though!”

Though not nearly as impressive, Adrien was still pleased when Nino gave him a CD from his favorite anime. It was a soundtrack that was hard to come by and something that he would certainly treasure just as much as his new journal.

"You already have my gift, Adrikins," Chloe called from where she was preparing something at the snack table. "If you really like these onsie-things, just ask Marinette to make another one for you, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Wait!” Marinette paused in the middle of cutting the cake to whirl on Chloe. “I told you to give it to him, not make it into a gift from you!"

"I gave him some shorts and a shirt as well, geeze. Don't twist my words pigtails."

"Did you just—"

"Mari," Alya said carefully as she stood. "Why don't you stop cutting the cake and give Adrien your gift?" Marinette glanced down at the knife clutched tightly in her hand and looked as though she were seriously considering throwing at Chloe, but in the end she reluctantly passed it to Alya instead.

“Here you go, Adrien.” She placed a bulky gift in his lap as she tried to smile at him. The product looked more like a grimace and Adrien couldn’t help but laugh. She stuck her tongue out and tried not to smile but wasn’t entirely successful.

“Thanks, Marinette.” Looking down at the package, Adrien noticed a card tucked under the string of the package. He’d always found it sweet how she always included cards with her gifts. Many people didn't really do cards anymore which made it a nice gesture. He pulled it out and began reading.

_ 'Dear Adrien, _

_ Happy 18th Birthday! I hope that you'll forgive us for pretending to blow you off. We thought it’d be fun to surprise you instead. Anyways, thanks for always being a wonderful friend and I hope that you have a wonderful birthday! _

_ Stay Miraculous! _

_~~L~~ Marinette' _

Adrien blinked down at the card. Something about the way that it was written seemed eerily familiar. His eyes zeroed in on the valediction. His eyes traced each looping letter and came to a startling realization.

This was Ladybug’s handwriting.

"Sorry if my writing is a bit messy," he heard her saying as she pushed one of her bangs behind her ear nervously. "I wrote it really late at night. I tend to make more mistakes with my writing when I'm tired.”

He focused back on the card without saying anything. He wanted so badly to confirm his gut reaction —was that an L crossed out?— by comparing the note and the journal, but he could feel his friends' eyes on him. If Marinette was in fact his Lady, then drawing attention to it might give her away to them as well.

So, with all of the strength that he could muster, Adrien set the card aside and resolved to check covertly as soon as he could. He stiffly ripped open his gift instead and found a large swath of black knitted fabric. He pulled it free of the paper and allowed it to unfurl and reveal itself to be a blanket with green accents scattered across it in the form of a border and smattering of paw prints.

"I knew what Alya was giving you. She mentioned that she felt bad for not getting a message from Chat so I thought that maybe you'd appreciate a Chat-themed blanket instead? I tried to find one in the stores at first, but since they never have enough merch for him I made one instead."

"Thanks, Marinette," Adrien said quietly as he outlined one of the paw prints with his finger. The lack of merchandise for himself never bothered him, Ladybug was the real star, but Marinette's thoughtfulness never ceased to amaze him.

Though, now that he thought about it, Marinette always made a point to stick up for Chat Noir whenever he came up in conversation. He hadn't really acknowledged it outside of a light feeling of appreciation. But, with the very real possibility of her being Ladybug at the forefront his mind, it certainly would explain why someone who seemed to have very little interest in Paris' superheroes was so vested in Chat Noir.

"Thanks everyone," Adrien said.  "I really like all of your gifts." There was a chorus of 'you're welcome's’ followed by a loud bang as Chloe slammed a full tray of various items on the coffee table.

"Alright. Everyone get a slice of cake so that we can get started."

"Chloe…"

"Adrien, if that went on much longer you would have been an emotional mess and you know it. Alya and Nino help me clear the table and Marinette. So help me, if you don’t get those pieces of cake on plates soon I’m going to lose it."

Begrudgingly everyone did as commanded. But not without bickering , which allowed  Adrien to inconspicuously open the journal. He opened the card and directly compared the two. As his eyes traveled between them it became apparent that his intuition had been right.

There were no differences.

He had found his lady.

Adrien set the evidence aside in favor of carefully examining Marinette. With a new frame of reference he could see all sorts of pieces of his Lady in her. From the way she bickered with Chloe to how she gracefully carried the cake back to the snack table, there were so many obvious signs that it made him wonder how he’d missed them before.

"Cake?"

Adrien blinked and looked up to find Nino extending a plate to him.

"Sure, thanks." 

In the time he had been staring everyone else had found a spot around the table. He slid to the floor and forced himself to take a bite of cake. He wasn't entirely hungry anymore thanks to his nerves, but he made a point to try anyways.

"Alright," Chloe began. "Adrien, since it's your birthday, you spin first."

Adrien nodded and spun the bottle. He watched it go round and round. His mouth went dry when it rolled to a stop in front of Marinette. His eyes met her familiar blue ones and he lost all coherency as he was struck by how beautiful they were in the golden light of the room.

What was he supposed to do again?

“A-Adrien?”

Right. He was supposed to ask her a question.

"Uh, T-Truth or dare?"

Marinette contemplated it before answering, "Truth."

He tried to think of something clever to ask her, but in that moment his mind short circuited instead. "W-what's your favorite flower?"

The whole table groaned.

"Adrikins, you're sweet and all, but you should at least ask a question like 'what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?' or 'who do you like?'. That's way too easy!"

"Too late!" Marinette crowed with a smile on her face. "He already asked a question so that's the one we go with. As for my answer: my favorite flowers are daisies. Nino, your turn." Marinette nearly knocked over everyone’s things as she rolled the bottle across the table to Nino. The boy laughed as he spun it as well.

The bottle seemed to spin much slower before it landed on Alya. But, when it did, she didn't even wait for Nino before saying: "Dare."

He laughed at her boldness. "Alright. You, me, seven minutes in heaven."

"You're on, babe." Adrien's eyebrows knit together as he watched Nino and Alya disappear into the other room.

"We're going to keep playing while you're gone!" Chloe called after them as she reached for the bottle. She was about to spin it when she saw Adrien's confused look. "It's another party game. Basically two people get locked in a closet and go at it for seven minutes. Speaking of which I better set a timer because they are  _ so _ going to go over if I don't."

A few taps on her phone and it started counting down. Chloe then reached for the bottle and let it spin across the surface. Moments later it stopped dead on Marinette. A smirk crossed her face as she leaned into Marinette’s space forcing her to lean back. 

"Truth or Dare, Marinette Dupain Cheng?

Marinette hesitated a moment before answering. 

"Uh…Truth?"

The smirk turned deadly. 

"Who do you like?"

Marinette blanched. "Pass. And I'll take the alcohol." She pushed shot glass into Chloe’s hand. The other girl cackled and she reached for the bottle of vodka sitting on the floor beside her and poured. Marinette crinkled her nose at the scent of alcohol, but she knocked it back without any complaint. Reaching for the bottle, she spun it and watched as it landed where Nino should have been.

"I'll take a dare," Chloe offered after deciding that it had landed closer to her than Adrien.

"Alright, I dare you to post an embarrassing selfie to Instagram."

Chloe laughed. "Is that all? Alright." She took out her phone and shot a picture of herself. After a moment of contemplation she frowned. "That looks too cute. I'll have to try again."

Adrien zoned out as this process repeated itself for quite some time. Thoughts of how he would break the news of his knowledge to Marinette consumed him. It only made sense to tell her right? It certainly wouldn’t be right to keep it to himself. He was broken from his reverie by the reappearance of the disheveled duo as Chloe’s phone went off.

"Sorry Marinette," Chloe said snidely. "Looks like I  _ can't _ take a bad selfie. Guess I'll just have to take a shot instead." Marinette rolled her eyes.

"You know if you want to drink you can just drink."

"Where's the fun in that? Besides it's Alya's turn now."

Adrien felt a sense of foreboding as Alya picked up the bottle and let it fly. Time seemed to slow down as the bottle landed on himself. Her smirk sent ice down his back. "Truth or  _ Dare _ , birthday boy?"

The emphasis she placed on the word made it quite clear that, if he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't dare say truth. "D-Dare?"

"I dare you and Marinette go play seven minutes in heaven."

He felt his cheeks heat up immediately and, from the looks of it, Marinette wasn't fairing any better. 

"T-That's not fair!" She cried as Chloe nearly fell over laughing. "It's his dare, not mine. You can't—"

"Too bad! This is what you get for taking an easy question earlier. Up, up!" Alya pulled her best friend into a standing position.

"You, too, Adrien," Chloe added. "Unless you're planning on taking a shot instead?"

He took a moment to consider his options. Obviously Marinette felt very uncomfortable with this. He could easily take a shot and spare her. But, if his gut told him anything, Alya was a woman on a mission and she'd be damned if anyone got in her way. Surely, they didn't  _ have _ to do anything behind closed doors, right? Maybe they could just—

He was on his feet, journal in hand, in less than a second.  He walked towards Chloe's closet before anyone truly knew what was going on. He heard a few surprised voices, but he paid them no mind as he took a seat in one of the chairs set up inside of the lavish closet and waited.

It took a while for a beat-faced Marinette to enter, but when she did she stopped short at the sight of him nervously holding the journal. She carefully shut the door behind her and played with her sleeve as she waited for him to speak.

"S-So I'm pretty sure this 'game' is supposed to be kinda raunchy or whatever, but I wanted to talk to you about something in-instead." His laugh was a bit too loud in the small space. When she didn't respond he opened the journal, turned it to the page that held her card, and then turned them for her to see.

"Here's the thing. I couldn't help but notice that these were really similar. Now tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that you wrote both of these. And, while it's possible that you'd try to forge Ladybug’s handwriting for Alya… I know it’s genuine. Also, looking at your card, it looks like you accidentally started signing as her."

Marinette refused to meet his eyes as she played with her hands. She didn’t respond for some time but when she did her voice was barely above a whisper.  "What are you trying to say?"

"You’re Ladybug."

He watched her carefully as the words sank in. After a while her hands stopped fidgeting and her shoulders sank. She cursed softly under her breath and, in the next second, she fixed him with one of the sternest looks that he had ever seen.

"You can't tell anyone about this. No one can know who I am. If my identity got out then Hawk Moth could target my family and—"

"Woah, Woah. Easy there." He stood and put his hands on either of her shoulders. "I'm not going to tell anyone, I swear."

Marinette relaxed slightly, but didn’t back down. 

"Sorry. There are just so much damage that could be done if the wrong person found out. Not that you're the wrong person, you're wonderful and amazing, but if say Alya found out she might post it on her blog and—"

"Calm down, Marinette. Nothing like that is going to happen. I promise." He squeezed her shoulders lightly before stepping back with a Cheshire grin. "Besides now that your cat is out of the bag I can let one of my own out as well."

"Adrien, you don't have to tell me a secret just because you found out one about me. Also was that a cat joke?"

"Purrhaps." He was probably laying it a bit thick right now, but he didn't quite care. He felt lighter than he ever had before. He’d found her! "And maybe I don't  _ have _ to tell you one. But I think it's only fair that I make things even between us.”

There was a flash of green and moments later Chat Noir stood in his place. Marinette’s face immediately went blank. He stood there awkwardly for a few moments before waving. Once the reality of the situation seemed to sink in, Marinette let out a squeak and her hands flew to her mouth. 

"Y-you're—!"

"The one and only, My Lady." He reached forward. Taking one of her hands in his own, he bowed and kissed it with a wink. As he looked up from his bow, though, he noticed that Marinette was about to lose it. He immediately dropped her hand and released his transformation. He winced as he scratched the back of his head.

"That was probably a bit much wasn't it?"

"You think?" Plagg griped. "I was trying to sleep, you know. Next time just tell the girl and leave the theatrics for someone who cares." With that he flew back to where he had been hiding. Adrien laughed to himself, but his attention was quickly pulled back to Marinette when she stumbled forward and threw her arms around him. He froze at the sudden contact, but recovered quickly enough to return her embrace.

Marinette pulled back and opened her mouth to say something to him when the door swung open with a loud bang. The pair jumped apart and looked up to find a smug Alya standing in the doorway.

“Need a bit more time?”

Adrien looked down and found Marinette burying her reddening face in her hands. He had a feeling that if he sincerely asked for more time that their friends would give it to him. But he also knew that their reputations would pay dearly for it. And, while he wanted nothing more than to talk to her, he also didn’t want to throw her to the wolves.

“Naw. I think we’re good for now. Right Marinette?”

His double meaning was not lost on her. While he was happy about all this development, her feelings were also important to him. She pulled her hands away from her face to stare at him. There wasn’t a lot that they could say in front of Alya, but the acceptance that he saw in her eyes helped to ease him.

“Yeah. We’re good,” she breathed. As they followed Alya at a distance, Marinette muttered, “We are  _ so _ talking about this later.”

“Of course, my Lady. Do you want to sneak off after everyone else is asleep?”

Marinette arched an eyebrow. “Adrien, I’ll have you know I am a respectable young woman who has standards. You at least have to buy me dinner first.”

“Does pizza count?”

Marinette laughed. “I suppose it’ll have to do. Now if you’ll paw-don me, I have a bone to pick with Alya.” She pulled away from Adrien intent on murdering her best friend, but Adrien’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“Wait. Was that a cat pun?”

Marinette turned around and blinked at him innocently. "What are you talking about Adrien? I don't make puns. Especially cat-related ones. Those are the absolute worst." 

Marinette made a face before she spun out of his reach. She walked forward a few paces before stopping short of the threshold. He was about to reach for her again, but the devious look she sent over her shoulder stole his breath away. 

"What's wrong, Adrien?" She asked. When he had no response she smirked. "Cat got your tongue, Kitty?"

And then she winked.

To say that Adrien was a complete mess the rest of the night would have been an understatement. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> I can't say too much at the moment, but I just wanted to let you guys know that this was a bit of a challenge for me. I'm pretty sure that the challenge is supposed to be for you readers, but it took a hell of a lot of editing to get this down to below the max. Thankfully a writer friend of mine helped a bit and we were able to get this 10 words under. XD I know, technically, I could have probably chosen something else, but... but this kind of reveal has been in my head for awhile and I wanted to share it with everyone. 
> 
> So here you go! Hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you thought of it.


End file.
